THE EDIBLE SCHOOLYARD

The Edible Schoolyard garden is a thriving acre of land on school grounds that serves as an interactive garden classroom for students at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California.

In the spring of 1995, an abandoned lot adjacent to the school was designated as the garden site. Landscape architects, chefs, gardeners, and teachers were invited to share their vision of a garden where students would participate in hands-on learning. 12 years later, the acre of land is lush with seasonal vegetables, herbs, vines, berries, flowers, and fruit trees.

King Middle School teachers and the garden staff work together to link garden experiences with students’ science lessons for truly integrated experiential learning. The garden is carefully planned to grow a wide variety of seasonal produce that favors the Bay Area climate; it shifts and changes from season to season, as we seed, grow, harvest, and rotate crops with new groups of students each year.

Students harvest and prepare produce as part of their garden and kitchen classes. However, produce grown in the garden is not used for school lunch. Learn more about the impact of this program and its connection to school lunch reform at the Chez Panisse Foundation website.

Get a firsthand glimpse of the Edible Schoolyard garden. Video Tour >